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I have another really low tech bowl in a 5 gallon terrarium. All I give it is light for the plants and food for the shrimp. It's under 10,000k LED lights, but it does seem really blue compared to what I'm used to...Everything grows under them, just slowly. I'm using the bowl as a place to selectively breed some blue rili shrimp.

03-08-2013 10:55 AM

amyhartofey

What a beautiful bowl - really happy to have inspired such a lovely scape If/when the bamboo grows up through the top, it's going to be such a stunning piece!

Like Kehy said, this isn't a good environment for a betta - even my largest bowl goes through some whack temperature fluctuations, I honestly don't know how the snails manage - but shrimp or snails are perfect for this set-up. Get a nano tank for your beautiful betta - something 2gal or bigger, with a hob or sponge filter, and a nice little heater. A pico cube can look stunning for a betta! And cheap too; my first betta set-up was $100 not including plants.

03-08-2013 02:29 AM

Kehy

For a betta tank, I really wouldn't recommend no tech. At the very least, bettas need a heater and a filter, which means fairly stable temps, making them unsuitable to be solar powered. The sunlight, even indirect sunlight can have a pretty strong effect on the temps in these small containers, which as you get smaller, the effect becomes more extreme.

There is also pretty low bio limit on what these jars can sustain. With a no-tech like my jar, a single shrimp and a bunch of snails is all I feel comfortable putting in there. You'd need a lot of fast growing plants to keep up with the waste production of the fish, not to mention the regular water changes.

Really it's a good looking bowl, and plant wise it looks fairly good (keep the leaves of the bamboo above the water), but I just wouldn't have a fish in one of these.

03-08-2013 01:41 AM

JerSaint

You totally inspired me! I went the old school fish bowl route with a Betta. I used MGOPS capped with a "bio-active" sand (I think it is seeded with bacteria to help establish the environment). Started just a few days ago and added "Gary" the Golden Mystery snail (thanks Spongebob), and the Ziggy the Veiltail Betta today.

I threw in Wisteria clippings a banana anubias, crypt and a bamboo shoot that I hope will grow out of the top.
Thanks for the inspiration!

03-07-2013 08:34 PM

TonyK

Great looking jars!

03-06-2013 08:12 AM

amyhartofey

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10gallonplanted

You neeeeed skreeeeemp!

UGH I WISH

As I mentioned, shrimp are illegal here I'm sorely tempted to make a collecting expedition (local varieties, caught wild, ARE legal) but there aren't any freshwater streams very close to my house, only brackish mangrove swamps. I don't think I'm quite ready attempt that!

So yeah, pond-snails are really all I have access to. But 1) they are FREE, 2) they are really cute and pretty and gold-coloured and 3) it was this or cull them so I chose this

03-06-2013 08:05 AM

amyhartofey

Jars update

Not sure why that picture is so brown? Anyway, there's been a population EXPLOSION among the snails in the larger jar. We got babies EVERYWHERE:

They are so tiny! Lord knows what I will do with them as they get bigger and infest the jar. Cull them I expect

As you can see we're developing a ton of nice algae but the java moss is growing very slowly indeed. Should I be removing the algae - is it stopping light getting to the moss?

I've only had one real bid for freedom - found a dry little carcass beside the jar on day three - so I think they're all doing okay. As for the little jar, the single inhabitant is churning out so much poop there's practically a dirt substrate:

Otherwise not much to report as yet. I just bought a turkey-baster yesterday for water changes (tipping-out is a serious no-no with the gravel, and all my siphons are much too big). We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for all the comments and interest, this forum is awesome!

03-05-2013 10:23 PM

10gallonplanted

You neeeeed skreeeeemp!

03-05-2013 10:15 PM

manzpants92

Great idea! really like it

03-05-2013 04:12 PM

GMYukonon24s

Beautiful jars!

03-05-2013 09:12 AM

amyhartofey

That is so neat, Kehy!

02-27-2013 04:58 AM

Kehy

My jar doesn't get any direct sunlight, only indirect. Its definetly easy to tell the changing season though, I get intense hair algae for weeks until the light stabilizes a bit. As for water changes...I think the last one was 4 months ago? As for adding dirt, be careful, you will get inevitable greenwater and intense clouding. It goes away after a while (I did 3 daily water changes in the first week to take care of clouding from the dirt) fortunately, and the snails mostly take care of algae on the sides of the jar.
The jar is about .5 liter, I took the pics under a desk lamp. When I added the extra substrate, I pulled a couple D. sag for one of my tanks...and the entire substrate came up. Hence adding gravel, hahaha

02-27-2013 02:26 AM

amyhartofey

I expect you did! I'm just discovering the aquarist community on tumblr and it's awesome

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